Prevention Educator, Nina Patterson (second from right), at a prevention session with BC Pride’s Constellations youth group.

 The second quarter of 2024 has flown by for us at S.A.F.E. Place! We have been quite busy developing programs and helping our clients in need. February was Teen Dating Violence Prevention Month, and in light of that we would love to highlight the amazing work the Calhoun County Youth Violence Prevention Project (YVP) has done this past fiscal year.

Who is the YVP?
The Calhoun County Inter-Agency Youth Violence Prevention Project (shortened to YVP) is a joint project spearheaded by S.A.F.E Place and Bronson Sexual Assault Services (SAS). We exist to provide evidence-based and multi-session prevention education to youth in Calhoun County around issues of domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.The YVP believes in protecting the rights of children and youth by engaging them in anti-oppressive styles of education and leadership. We aim to empower K-12 youth in Calhoun County with the knowledge and skills to identify and respond to unsafe situations and to develop help-seeking behaviors. We hope to continue to build youth power to be their own advocates byProviding informed consent in the classroomBuilding a trusting rapport over multiple, scaffolded lessonsSharing power with students and welcoming reciprocal feedbackBuilding accessibility and breaking barriers to encourage youth help-seeking abilities